My take on Obama’s stimulus plan is that it’s a big “package” even for a Black man!!!

Jason writes:

“Pelosi and Reid should both be canned for their performance here. They pushed a bad bill loaded with many controversies. Blame resides with them and only them. “

Um, Jason, the worst things in the bill are the modifications made by Senate Republicans.  Pelosi’s original is a much better bill/

For example, the Republicans have loaded it up with tax cuts for the middle class and better-off, which is unstimulative because in these times, where people fear job loss, upper-income people will save the money rather than spend it - resulting in zero stimulus.

In contrast, the “welfare” spending that can be “blamed” on the Democrats is the most stimulative of all.

See this article:

But we needn’t rely on logic and common sense to know that welfare spending is stimulative; economists study these things. One such economist is Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com, who served as an adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign. Zandi has produced a handy chart showing how much a variety of spending increases and tax cuts would stimulate the economy. According to Zandi, a dollar spent on increasing unemployment benefits yields $1.64 in increased gross domestic product, and a dollar spent on food stamps yields $1.73 in GDP.

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20090209_tv_news_makes_tv_look_bad/

That’s funny Ed. I lost confidence in Obama after his speech.  He seemed to be stuck in campaign mode, struggled with answers and rambled. Add to this the political bickering, and street talk, he just seemed out of place. It’s Not the Presidential fortitude I had hoped for. *sigh*

Look. None of us should be so quick to rush Pelosi’s bill through. There is too much unknown about it and I do not think that the Democratic Leadership and White House are being very honest about what is in it. No one here can say one way or the other because full details have not been examined.

I am not ready to jump off a cliff here. There are many ways to go about it and even Obama concedes that this bill is being used as an express way for other initiatives that have nothing to do with stimulus.

Pelosi and Reid should both be canned for their performance here. They pushed a bad bill loaded with many controversies. Blame resides with them and only them.  If they had the nation’s interest, we would not be where we are and much of the nonsense would not have made it in to begin with. Instead, they want to play politics and party vs. party.

Every member of congress is elected to represent the voice of their constituents. Who the hell are they to say X member does not get a voice because of his party affiliation. That is NOT a democracy!

My vote is not restricted to party lines and Pelosi should not infer that it is just because Obama was elected.

I’ll tell you what was the main, underlying message I took away from this press conference.

No, he didn’t persuade me that this stimulus will necessarily work as hoped, or that all of the misgivings about it are mistaken.

But what I saw that reassured me was that Obama is smart, responsible, flexible, and adept enough to change course if that’s what’s needed. He didn’t give us this mindlessly stubborn G. W. Bush certitude, which always left you with the frightening feeling that he was just going to drive us over a cliff and never, ever, revisit a decision. GWB was just plain peevish and stupid; he found it annoying to have to think about things and explain things on a daily basis. That was scary and led to disaster after disaster.

Obama is not just going to say, “I’m tired of thinking about this because it’s too hard and now I don’t care what happens —  I’m going to work out at the gym and then I’m going to bed early and to hell with you.”

After the experience of the Great Depression, it is understandable why they would hustle to save the banks- but just because they can’t talk openly about it in an effort not to jeopardize confidence (a run on the banks)these elitist Wall street crooks should be reminded that they are lucky to still have a job—much less raking in the bailout bonuses on the peoples’ dime.

‘“Generally speaking, I’m more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards,” Obama said.’

  The problem with this is that it is necessary as part of being accountable and insuring an honorable, responsible government for the future that there is recognition of past crimes in order to chart a new course. Sweeping it under the rug leaves a festering wound.

  Deregulated free market ideology is like religious doctrine—it still gets preached long after the failure of doctrine has been revealed as bankrupt policy.

A libertarian view—

The idea of politicians (Democrat or Republican—makes no difference) curing the economy is like liquor store owners curing a drunk by selling him more alcohol.

Folks, lest we forget—these are the nitwits who mucked up everything. Now, I know some of you loyal Democrats will say it makes a huge difference which political party is in power. Trust me—it makes no difference whatsoever.

Excessive “stimulus” (that is, easy credit and loose monetary policies) are what created the problem. Doing more of the same is not going to solve the problem. Again, we’re just giving more whiskey to the drunk to make him feel better, temporarily.

If you continue giving whiskey to the drunk, you eventually kill him. In like manner, if you keep giving false “stimulus” to the economy, you eventually kill the economy.